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Ibanez has historic month of June

Ibanez has historic month of June

6/30/13: Raul Ibanez pulls the Mariners closer by belting a solo home run to right field off Shawn Camp to make it a 7-4 ballgame

By Greg Johns
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MLB.com |

ARLINGTON -- How good was June for Raul Ibanez? Good enough that Barry Bonds is the only player since 1993 who was older than him at the time he led a team in home runs and RBIs in the same month.

Ibanez, 41, led the Mariners with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs in his torrid June. The 10 home runs equaled his personal high for a month, having also reached double digits in May 2009 with the Phillies.

He carried his hot hitting into July, as he homered in his first at-bat of the month (his 20th of the season) in a 9-2 win over the Rangers on Tuesday. He went back-to-back with Kendrys Morales.

Ibanez became the first Mariner to hit 10 home runs in a month since Edgar Martinez in May 2003. The only American League player with more home runs in June was Baltimore's Chris Davis, who hit 12.

Ibanez was red-hot for a player of any age. But a guy at 41? He became the oldest American League player to lead his team in both home runs and RBIs in a month since Dave Winfield topped the Twins in both categories in 1993 at 41.

The only older player in either league to do better since 1993 was Bonds, who led the Giants in home runs (eight) and RBIs (17) at the age of 42 in April 2007.

"It's very impressive," manager Eric Wedge said. "And not just the home runs, but big hits, too. He's a clutch player, he wants to be up in those situations, and when you look at what he and Morales do with runners in scoring position, that's really been our Achilles and everybody else can draw from that and watch and learn from it. If you thrive more in those situations, we'd be a completely different ballclub."